Some random
thoughts on reforming first year engineering curriculum
Recently there
has been some discussion in my institute on reforms in undergrad curriculum.
I don’t know
about the later years, but there are a few things I was thinking that can be
inserted in the first-year curriculum.
During my
days at IIT Madras (in the late 80’s), in the first year, we had something
called “workshop”, an elaborate mind-numbing, body-breaking form of drudgery.
For example,
we had classes on carpentry where we were taught how to make a cuboid out of a
piece of wood! Why cant get out of these dress rehearsals and thrust the young
student into the full-blown, magical world of woodworking? They can be taught,
for example, how to build treehouses. We can take advantage of the
forest around us (*) and build lovely tree houses on our large and
accommodating banyans! The kids can easily turn this skill into startups later.
https://nelsontreehouse.com/blog/a-slice-of-pnw-paradise-nelson-treehouse/
*IIT Madras
campus is built literally inside a forest.
Ive read
somewhere that German artist Albrecht Durer of high renaissance era had
mastered the art of woodcuts, while his contemporaries busied themselves with
painting. The advantage of woodcuts is that you can use them to make prints,
which Durer exploited and a made a handsome sum for himself! If only some of our
inspired undergrads can learn the art of making fine wood carvings, and combine
that art with the technology of 3D printing and AI-based design… investors will
make a beeline.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Albrecht-Durer-German-artist
Our workshop
had a few other things like welding and filing (phew!). I can think only a few other
memories that are more traumatic. But our workshop didn’t have cooking. Wish
they had! Let me recount an incident.
Once my wife
and I were visiting this snazzy hotel on the outskirts of Chennai. Although the
menu was long and fancy, we wanted to order something plain and simple. We
asked for some saambaar saadam (sambar rice) and tair saadam (curd rice). What was
served to us then were the most delectable bowls of the two dishes, dishes that
were otherwise considered the most commonplace and rather dull in south Indian cuisine. We wanted
to meet the chef who could transform such routine dishes into something so adorable.
The chef turned out to be young girl in her early 20s. She spoke of her
struggles to convince her parents to let her take up this career that is so
close to her heart.
That day I
realised one thing. Someone who can turn out such incredible dishes doesn’t have
just a skill for livelihood. They have a dangerous and enviable power over the minds
of men!
One can go
on and on. The list is rather long. Dancing, acting, film-making, reading and
writing fiction, turning trash into artwork, origami, gardening, floral
arrangements… just think about someone who knows how to make perfect floral arrangements.
A boy who can do it will have girls standing in queue, and a girl who can do it
will unleash an untold confusion in the society of boys – because they will be hard
pressed to choose between the lotus of her face and the bouquet in her hand!
So why cant
we add some color to the freshman curriculum?
Talking of color…
brings to my mind another anecdote. My wife and I waited for hours in the rain
before we could gain entry into Muse’e D’Orsay in Paris. I liked this one better
than the more famous Louvre. There are galleries and galleries of paintings… but
this particular one really got me. It’s titled “The Woman with a Parasol” by
impressionist artist Monet. It portrays a lady in a long white dress holding an
umbrella. A pale blue sky was looming over her. She stood there calm and royal,
as
if held in a passionate embrace by the light. And I stood there with my mouth
wide open and eyes unblinking. I even forgot that my wife who was around
somewhere wouldn’t appreciate such unbridled gaping! How do these people hold
you still in your tracks, make you completely oblivious of your surroundings,
with a display of a few sloshes of color?
https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.61379.html
Life is all
about having enriching and fulfilling experiences. Why cant we give to our freshmen
not just information, dull and dead, but inspiration that will propel them for
life? Why should engineering curricula be all about serious and solemn “problem
solving”? How about replacing, just for a brief year, the “problem solving”
with a “riot of creativity” or a “flood of inspiration” or “thoughts that can
run on a thousand tracks all at once”?
It will give
the freshies certainly a career, but more importantly a life filled with magic,
beauty and undying delight.
Regards
Srini
